92. TEN QUESTIONS FOR THE DALAI LAMA

his holiness, the dalai lama; spiritual and political leader of tibet, living in exile in india.  the director was granted 10 questions and 45 minutes with him, for 3 months in the future.  during the time leading up tot he interview, rick ray learned more of tibetan history, the history of the 14th dalai lama; the life of a monk; the life of average citizens.  he didn't want to waste his questions; he didn't want to embarrass himself; he didn't want to waste the lama's time.  it was fascinating to learn more about this man and this culture than i ever knew before.  i now understand the issue with china, which seeks to destroy the history, culture and people of tibet through systematic torture, murder and annihilation of all things buddhist.  i thought china was buddhist, but this is the communist dictatorship.  the film is full of historic clips; current images and face to face with the man himself.  the dalai lama seems to laugh a lot; takes a traditional non-violent approach to his enemies, and possess the wisdom of someone who spends great amounts of time in contemplation.  

this film represents the end of my year of documentaries.  i watched 92 this year; an average of one every four days.  a long shot from my original goal of one a day, but still pretty impressive to my mind.  i've learned a lot.  some weren't too good, but most were quite satisfying.  i've enjoyed reviewing my list in the last few days.  i don't know as yet what, if any, goal i'll have for the coming year.  i guess i have to decide soon.........ha  thank you again to keith for the smart tv which allows me to easily access documentaries of all kinds  i still have over 120 in my queue, with more being released all the time.  here's to 2015!!

91. SPINNING PLATES

a film about 3 very different restaurants.  the 7th best restaurant in the world, alinea, in chicago; a 150 year old establishment, breitbachs in iowa; a new mexican place, la cocina de gabby in tuscon.  each is followed in some detail, through successes and challenges, including finance, fire, and poor health.  it always amazes me the passion that goes into a successful restaurant....as well as long hours and a nearly obliteration of any personal life.  3 moving, personal stories as someone notes on the rotten tomatoes site.  all speak to the power of food; the power of coming together in a place of food.  from the very traditional, to the personal, to the far reaching molecular gastronomy approach, food speaks to people in very powerful ways.  i enjoy seeing the behind the scenes of restauranteuring. 

90. BETTY PAGE REVEALS ALL

pin up icon, betty page. boys wanted her; girls wanted to be her.   uninhibited but innocent.  she rose to fame in the early 50's and disappeared from the public eye at the height of her career in 1957.  filmed in the late 90's, about a decade before her death, we never see the actual person, but she provides a very candid voiceover.  we see how photographers loved her, since she instinctively knew what to do with her body; she also exuded pure enjoyment in all of her work.  despite the pin up poses, the nudes poses and the bondage photos and videos that she was well known for, she continued to portray some innocence on the screen.  her charisma is powerful and her photos continue to be well received and desired.  i didn't know!  she tells of her marriage and affairs.  she had a psychotic break in her late 30's or early 40's and spent 10 yrs institutionalized in california.  at some point, she made the acquaintance of hugh hefner.  she was known to him from her centerfold picture in the dec '55 playboy.  he put her into acquaintance with business managers who ensured she got properly paid for her images and she remembers that this is the period of her life when she made the most money ever, thus securing a comfortable living.  her image is iconic and many might say that it's because of her voyage into oblivion while at her peak.  it's really fascinating to hear her tell her story and it's the best part of this film. 

89. BROTHER'S KEEPER

did delbert ward kill his brother william ward?  4 simple-minded brothers, living in a shack of a house, dairy farming all to their lives.  william is found dead in his bed one morning, june of '90, and assumed to have died in his sleep.  until the next day, when the medical examiner raises suspicion of foul play.  delbert and brothers are hauled into the police station where they sign statements saying delbert did it as a mercy killing.  the problem?........none of the brothers are literate; they don't hear well; delbert can't see if he doesn't have his glasses and even then, not well.  the authorities apparently didn't offer any lawyer to be present.  the brothers certainly didn't understand the language of the law to know what anything meant.  it's obvious that these are all simple men; some more than others.  most would say they live in squalor.  the community has known them only as "the boys", has generally shunned them all their life.  they are incredibly dirty men, but gentle.  most townspeople have never had a relationship with them.  however, in the face of a 2nd degree murder charge, the community rallies around delbert to raise bail and defense attorney funds--no one believes delbert would have committed this crime on his brother who he was with every day of his life.  we are taken through the months after the death and through the entire trial to the verdict.  it's scary what can happen to simple people when the law is involved!

88. MEL BROOKS: MAKE A NOISE

mel brooks is a funny man.  this pbs documentary reminds us just how funny.  he basically sits at a table and discusses his career, interspersed with clips from his films.  i did NOT know that he created "get smart" with buck henry.  he talked about how he fought to make the gross fart scenes in "blazing saddles"; to film "young frankenstein" in black and white; to make "silent movie" silent.  he had some misses along the way, but in one real success, alfred hitchcock told him the newspaper print down the drain scene in "high anxiety" was "genius".  mel brooks finished his career with the production of "the producers", for which he won a ton of tony awards.  i enjoyed being reminded of several old films, and learning the reasons why certain scenes, actors, music, styling was used for each.

87. THE ART OF THE STEAL

dr. albert barnes compiled a great collection of modern and post impressionistic art in the early 1900's.  he built a home for it and displayed it in warm collections, much different than a museum.  he established a school and great numbers of people learned.  then he died in 1951, but with a trust firmly established.  or was it?  the trust very clearly stated that the art should never be moved from it's location and was in place to teach art history and appreciation.  however, the collection gained in value, currently estimated at $25-30 billion.  this nailed the attention of many powers that be.  the film unfolds with significant intrigue.  what barnes collected was initially disdained by the "art community".  however, his collection of nearly 9000 pieces of art, including mattisse, serraut, cezanne, picasso, renoir are considered to be the best examples of each.  the film is presented from the side of the barnes supporters.  albert barnes never wanted his works to be viewed as a museum; he wanted no connection to the art museum of philadelphia; he was basically anti government and anti-establishment in his attitude.  the film presents it as a great shame and tragedy if his collection is to be moved from where he created it, and come to rest in the hands of philadelphia power.  and, thus the film unfolds.  since i didn't really know the outcome, i was riveted to the end to learn of the barnes foundation fate.  now i know.

86. ANDREW JENKS, ROOM 335

a 19yo moves into an assisted living facility in florida, to learn more of the "outcasts" from society, as he feels the 80-90yo residents are.  this is an upscale place; well maintained and elegant.  andrew quickly integrates into the culture, bonding with several of the residents while asking them questions such as the meaning of life, love and death.  we learn that most don't want to be here; it's the only place they can be.  with no families to accept them into private homes or no willingness to impose on their children, these seniors have made harbor place their home.  andrew is charming and obviously cares deeply for these new found friends.  he experiences laughter and good heartedness as well as sadness.  we see the fragility of these people; vibrant one week and seriously ill the next.  the 4 weeks bring experiences that will last andrew a lifetime and likely guide his decisions in the future.  

as a postscript, i just read a little more about andrew jenks, an up and coming director.  his father is assistant secretary general of the UN.  he made this film while attending NYU.  he's made other films sense, as well as doing the award winning cable show, "world of jenks".  i'm not surprised to hear that he comes a bit out of privilege to this role.  i wondered all while i was watching it how he could afford the time and cost to make this documentary happen.  way to go, andrew jenks!

85. ADVANCED STYLE

fashionable over 60?  that's what street  fashion photographer air seth cohen sets out to show us.  he walks up to stylish women of a certain age on the streets of new york city to investigate their particularly unique fashion sense.  along the way, we get more information of what makes each of these women who they are in their personal lives, that addresses how they put together clothing and accessories to show that to the public.  it's interesting that several of the women describe their fashion as art; their bodies as the canvas; their choices based on what will make the picture complete.  it's fun to see these women live at a place in their lives, where they can be exactly who they want to be.  they might be perceived as "crazy old women" by many who see them walking in their sometimes outrageous outfits, but, indeed, they are just being exactly what they want to be.  it would be great if we all could approach life in this way.  mostly it takes most of us til nearer the end of life to decide to be exactly how we want to be.  i wondered how many of these women looked in their earlier fashion years?  i suspect they always had a totally unique style.  it was fun to watch.  and, fun to think about what i truly want to put out there to the world.

84. I AM SANTA CLAUS

mick foley, professional wrestler, produced this film because he loves christmas and loves santa claus.  so much so, that he keeps a christmas room year round in his home.  the film introduces us to several santas, as they live life in the months before christmas and as they gear up for the annual chore of being santa to hundreds of children.  we see how santa grooms, how he maintains his "figure", how he dresses.  some santas actually move to a location for a couple months to serve in the role.  many santas need their santa income to make it through the rest of the year.  all the santas take their role seriously........being santa both in and out of the costume.  mick foley becomes santa in this film and gets good reviews for his love of children and the job.  it's always weird to see santa conventions with dozens of similar, yet different, men milling around in red clothing and snowy white hair.  i admit to some fascination with these men who choose to "be santa".  the worst part of the film is seeing how some don't really have anything else in life except the santa persona; so they are happy and fulfilled for a couple months and lonely for the rest of the year.  right now, as i write this, there are santas everywhere ho, ho, ho-ing themselves into the minds and photographs of children all over the country.  to many of those children.........the ARE santa claus!

83. BEST KEPT SECRET

janet mino--the teacher who works tirelessly to make sure her classroom of students with autism reach their maximum potential.  the school is john f kennedy, in neward.  it's a poor district.  new jersey has the highest rate of autism in the country.  these students seem profoundly limited, yet she sees each for his/her potential and works to maximize that.  her entire classroom are aging out of the system in 2012 and for 2 years prior she evaluates options for life after school ends.  it's called "falling off the cliff" because services are so limited and these are families who are quite challenged already.  this woman agonizes over the lack of good choices for her students and we must admire her tenacity, while at the same time realizing that she has actually very little control over the situations.  she's a dear.  we don't learn anything about her personal life, and it's easy to believe that her classroom consumes most, if not all, of her personal time in addition to her professional time.  i think the best kept secret of the whole experience was watching ms. mino's tireless devotion to the well being of her students.